


Scream

by Ty_Tha_Kid



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Autobots - Freeform, Cliffjumper got himself captured, Decepticons - Freeform, F/M, Mentioned Megatron, Mind Manipulation, Mind fuckery, Non-Violent Torture, Not A Happy Ending, Prisoner of War, Psychic Abilities, Songfic, Soundwave is a BAMF, Telepathy, avenged sevenfold - Freeform, dark!fic, psychic torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 15:17:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7719772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ty_Tha_Kid/pseuds/Ty_Tha_Kid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Onboard the Nemesis, Soundwave gets to partake in a rare pleasure: the interrogation of an Autobot prisoner. The Decepticon uses every trick he has as he delves deep into the torn mind of the mech. But this captive may not be as innocent as everybot thinks, including the mech himself....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nitrobot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nitrobot/gifts).



> So I sent this fic to a friend of mine for editing, and.... It's just been sitting in my inbox for at least a month ready to be posted, heh heh. Yeah, sorry 'bout that guys! Anyways, I'll keep this short cuz I'm pretty excited for you all to get to it, but I will say this: 'Scream' is, by far, the fic that I'm most proud of, period and point blank. I dunno, something about writing darker pieces is really enjoyable... As for what that says about my mental state, I'm pretty sure I'm no psychopath XD
> 
> Seriously though, sorry for rambling.... Go ahead and get started, and I'll see you at the end of the fic!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Neither Transformers nor any affiliated characters belong to me, and I am in no way making any sort of profit from sharing this story. Furthermore, the song 'Scream' by Avenged Sevenfold is not mine either, and I gain nothing of physical value from using its lyrics. Now without further ado, I give you.... 'Scream'!
> 
> Gifted to the INCREDIBLE NitroStation, because he/she (sorry for not knowing which!) has one of the best Soundwave stories that I've seen on here, called 'Dance With the Devil' which totally inspired me to post this! You all should go check it out if you haven't already! But I will warn you, he/she and I have VERY different renditions of Soundwave!
> 
> Link to the song on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg7lIkZdTPk

The small, red Autobot writhed and thrashed in a helpless attempt to escape the bonds that kept him tied to the metal chair. This particular warrior had been captured by none other than Megatron himself in the wake of the last heated battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons and was awaiting interrogation in the brig.

The minibot bucked ferociously in an ever-increasing attempt to escape, an attempt that was only fueled by the sound of the door to the interrogation chamber slowly hissing open. Quiet, ominous footsteps broke the silence that had permeated the room as the Autobot looked up to see which Decepticon would dare try to break his will.

Soundwave.

The powerful yet stoic Decepticon TiC that also happened to be a telepath. If any bot stood a chance at breaking the Autobot, it would be him. However, the task would not be a simple one. After all, other than Decepticons, traitors were the only other things in life that Cliffjumper hated, and he refused to become one himself.

Soundwave, on his part, was rather looking forward to breaking the Autobot’s willpower. He enjoyed a tough, mental challenge, and nothing was sweeter to him than the emotional pain of a broken mech. And judging by Cliffjumper’s hardened reputation, he would be a tougher challenge than most, but that would make his pain all the more potent when he finally did crumble.  
The closer Soundwave crept, the more he relished the fear that was slowly beginning to make itself known alongside the anger blazing in Cliffjumper’s optics. The silent mech hesitated for a moment before he took the final step that would bring him towering directly over the Autobot. He cocked his head silently as if wondering why the mech wasn’t screaming yet, whether it be in fear or in anger.

That one movment, the slight tilt of the dark helm pushed the imprisoned mech over the edge, finally bringing forth the screams that the Decepticon so enjoyed. “What do you want from me, mech? Do you think I’ll tell you anything you wanna know? Honestly, you woulda been better off capturing some other poor Autobot to torture. You won’t get a fraggin’ thing from me!”

Soundwave straightened his helm and he finally stopped above the prisoner, who was making a decent attempt to yell himself hoarse. It was what Soundwave had been waiting for from the moment he had first entered the room. With a small, amused smile, the Decepticon decided to answer the Autobot before the fun really began.

“Statement: Soundwave did not expect Autobot Cliffjumper would give up valuable information quite so easily. Soundwave: enjoys it when his prisoners fight back,” the mech intoned in a dull voice, laying his servos almost reverently on the red helm before him as he prepared his telepathic mind for the efforts that awaited it. “Their efforts to rebuke him: amusing. Query: does Autobot Cliffjumper truly believe that Soundwave will get no information from him? If so, then Autobot Cliffjumper is sadly mistaken.” And with that, Soundwave dove into the captive Autobot’s mind and the fun truly began.

 _Caught up in this madness, too blind to see_  
_Woke animal feelings in me_  
_Took over my sense and I lost control_  
_I'll taste your blood tonight_  
_You know I make you wanna scream_  
_You know I make you wanna run from me, baby_  
_But no, it's too late, you've wasted all your time_

Cliffjumper’s mind whirled in panic as he frantically looked around him, trying to keep his gaze on everything at once yet failing miserably. Colors, dull yet vibrant at the same time swirled around him, giving him glances of various images. And oh, what torturous, horrible images they were. In one swirling blob of red that matched his paintjob exactly, a moving image of a screaming femme clutching a wailing babe played for him. He stared in horror, transfixed, as some monstrous being yanked the sparkling from his terrified mother’s servos.

He yelled in horror and reached out to help the defenseless mother… only to have his servos pass right through the blob of color, disbanding the image. Cliffjumper yelled again, this time in defeat. The worst part was that his spark knew all this was just one of Soundwave’s mind-tricks, but his processors believed this nightmare was real.

Speaking of the Decepticon, the red minibot spotted him standing nearby, just gazing at him, completely calm amidst all the chaos.

“Cliffjumper: advised against trying to harm Soundwave in this world, and struggling is futile. Autobot: should give information Soundwave wants the easy way.” The mech tilted his helm again as if considering something. “Observation: Soundwave would prefer Cliffjumper not take the easy way. Soundwave: enjoys mental challenge.”

That, out of all the things he had seen and heard so far, was what broke Cliffjumper. The fact that the Decepticon was playing a game with him, and the mech hated to be made a fool of, finally snapped something within the minibot. He felt something rumble deep inside of him, something almost animalistic in its rage, something…savage.

Cliffjumper’s vocalizer popped and snapped audibly as he struggled to contain the sound of pure hatred that fought to escape from him. Suddenly, the anger abated as quickly as it had come as a thought occurred to him. Why was Cliffjumper trying to control his anger? He was being tortured for information by the Decepticon third in command, for Primus’ sake! There was no need to hold back!

With no further qualms to keep him under control, the red Autobot sprang at Soundwave with a cry. It was a scream of pure, unadulterated vehemence, and, even if Cliffjumper would never admit it to himself, fear. With the bloodcurdling cry bubbling from within him, the warrior unsubspaced a small blade and thrust it through the abdomen of the motionless Decepticon.

Cliffjumper never even stopped to consider how he had been able to produce a weapon in a world of Soundwave’s making, let alone the fact that the mech hadn’t even attempted to dodge or fight back. Even now the indifferent telepath stood there watching as Cliffjumper twisted the dagger inside him, digging even deeper in search of something crucial. With a cry of triumph, the red mech felt his weapon tear through a vital pump in Soundwave’s body. He pulled the blade out as energon began to pour from the wound, watching in awe as the tall mech collapsed at last.

Cliffjumper crouched next to his fallen adversary, not even thinking about how easy it had been to take Soundwave down. He wanted to make sure the last thing the Decepticon saw before he went completely offline was the face of his killer. However, as he looked into the disabled mech’s facemask to crow his victory, the mask pulled back to reveal quite a different sight then what he had been expecting. It was the face of a femme, and a familiar face at that.

Cliffjumper could do nothing but stare in horror at the face of the femme laying beneath him. She looked up at him with a sad smile, which only made his pain worsen.

“No! What’ve I done? Soundwave, what did you make me do?!”

Said mech’s voice floated to him as if on a breeze, though there was no wind to be felt, “Cliffjumper: thought he could kill Soundwave in Soundwave’s own interrogation? Soundwave: happy he could prove Autobot scum wrong.”

Cliffjumper could do nothing but stare at the graying body in front of him and cradle her in his arms as he watched her life fade ever so slowly. He hugged the femme closer to his chest and murmured quietly to her.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to, Arcee!”

 _Relax while you're closing your eyes to me_  
_So warm as I'm setting you free_  
_With your arms by your side there's no struggling_  
_Pleasure's all mine this time_  
_Ooh, you know I make you wanna scream_  
_You know I make you wanna run from me, baby_  
_But no, it's too late, you've wasted all your time_

In the real world outside the twisted fantasy Cliffjumper was being subjected to, back onboard the torture chambers of the Nemesis, Soundwave sat quietly in front of the unconscious, twitching form of Cliffjumper. The mech would have been smiling if he allowed himself to display such emotion. The interrogation was going rather well, and it was time to implement a new twist to try and break the captive Autobot.

With all the precision of a surgeon, Soundwave silently searched through the red mech’s processors until he found what he was looking for. Making sure he handled it as delicately as possible, the Decepticon gently pried one of Cliffjumper’s darker emotions to the surface, an emotion that the minibot felt every time he went into battle. Raw, undiluted bloodlust.

The dark mech caught himself wanting to smile in pleasure again. After all, the interrogation was about to reach a new level, which could only mean one thing: The real fun was about to begin.

“Soundwave: does hope that Autobot Cliffjumper will not keep screams to himself this time,” the mech quietly brooded to himself.

 

* * *

 

The red mech gently rocked Arcee, her helm cradled in his lap. He whispered quiet words of apology, sorrow, and even love to the downed femme, pushing the anger that he knew was coming deep down inside him for now. Cliffjumper should have known Soundwave would try something like this. He should have expected a trick, but it never occurred to him that he would face one so cruel as this.

Pressing his lips gently to her helm, Cliffjumper locked optics with Arcee, indifferent to the darkness that swirled around them. Strangely enough, although the minibot had been constantly apologizing and begging her not to go, the femme had not uttered a single word, and the poor mech assumed she was punishing him for bringing about her death.

“I’m so sorry, ‘Cee. I didn’t mea-,” The mech froze mid-sentence as he felt a shadowy presence creeping through his processor, departing as quickly as it had come but leaving a familiar feeling behind that began to consume him. The emotion was one of intense anger and hatred, something he normally only felt to this degree when he was going into battle.

However, with no Decepticon around for the rage to target, Cliffjumper found his attention turning towards the slowly dying femme he still cradled. Feeling a malicious smile creep onto his faceplates, he hesitated as violent thoughts started racing through his processor. His subconscious seemed to settle onto one particular idea and his body slowly, haltingly began to move Arcee’s helm from his lap.

‘No! No!’ his mind silently screamed even as he watched his body move against his will, helpless to stop himself from what he was about to do. Cliffjumper sat roughly on Arcee, his legs on either side of her body, and retrieved a dagger from his subspace. It was the same blade that he had used to attack her not too long ago.

“Relax,” the possessed Cliffjumper whispered, “Pretend this is aaall a dream, dear Arcee. Just close your eyes and relax as I end your suffering. Don’t struggle, just accept the final darkness.”

With another fiendish grin, Cliffjumper, or the rage-fueled shell of Cliffjumper, brought the weapon down on the same wound that it had made not long ago. This time, however, it was not a clean wound. Instead of plunging in and out, the blade tore in and was cruelly twisted as if to cause as much pain as possible before ending Arcee, who, although she was writhing and thrashing, made not a sound.

Finally, unable to take the pain of having to watch as his own body tortured the helpless femme, Cliffjumper threw away the rage that had possessed him with a cry of triumph, although the victory was short-lived.

Looking down at the newly ravished body beneath him, Cliffjumper knew that her already shortened life would end in just mere moments, and it especially pained him to know that he had been the cause.

“Arcee, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do this to you, that fragging Decepticon Soundwave did something to my head,” the mech whispered on the verge of tears, “At least speak to me one last time. Let me know you don’t hate me!”

Comprehension dawned in the flickering optics of the Autobot femme, and she weakly raised a servo and placed it on Cliffjumper’s face. The mech leaned into the touch, desperation written clearly upon his faceplates, and with a hiss of static, Arcee cleared her vocalizer.

She opened her mouth to speak, but as she did, a strange look came into her optics, a look that was every bit as dark as the one that Cliffjumper’s had been a moment ago. The small warrior, too lost in the anticipation of hearing Arcee’s final words, didn’t notice the change that had come over her, but he certainly didn’t miss hearing the change in her voice when she finally did speak.

“Cliffjumper,” she said in a sing-song manner, “Look at what you did to me, Cliff.”

Cliffjumper twitched with surprise and pulled away from her ever so slightly. Arcee’s voice still held a familiar ring, but at the same time it was infinitely different. The voice still had the smooth and deceptively gentle quality that he admired, but it was interlaced with a rumbling growl. In addition, there seemed to be more than one femme speaking. Instead of a single voice, there was a multitude of echoes repeating the same words as hers, only at higher and lower pitches. But all the echoes harmonized into one chaotic yet still melodic voice. It was surreal, unique and darkly menacing. This was not the voice of Cliffjumper’s femme.

“Cliffjumper,” Arcee’s still-dying frame said. “If you want forgiveness, there is one thing you can do for me. Just one small favor. Tell me everything you know about the other Autobots. Supplies, hidden bases, rosters, everything! Maybe then I can… rest in peace,” the barely living shell told him.

He hesitated, practically on the verge of telling her everything she wanted to know without even thinking twice. But, for the first time since the interrogation had begun, he remembered that it was just that: an interrogation. Realization finally dawned on him. He had been manipulated into attacking the imposter from the beginning! So her request was just a clever attempt on Soundwave’s part to gather information from him!

Without any inhibitions to stop him, Cliffjumper once again withdrew a blade, this one longer and sturdier than the one that he had previously used against the projection he had assumed to be Arcee. This weapon was designed to deal out more damage than the comparatively weaker dagger. The red warrior twirled his weapon skillfully as he glared at the Arcee-creature.

“Well, Soundwave, I have’ta admit you really had me going for a klik there. But if you wanna get any info from me, then you’ll need’ta do much better than that.” With taunting the unseen Decepticon out of the way, Cliffjumper brandished his weapon and charged at the silently watching projection of Arcee.

As his sword plunged forward, Cliffjumper readied himself, expecting the apparition to put up a fight, only to find his blade tear through her wounded torso with ease. But this time was different. This time there was a wailing screech from the being, followed by an unearthly laughter as what had once appeared to be Arcee crumpled to the ground, the glow of life finally leaving her grey frame once and for all.

 _Scream 'til there's silence_  
_Scream while there's life left vanishing_  
_Scream from the pleasure_  
_Unmask your desire, perishing_  
_We've all had a time where we've lost control_  
_We've all had our time to grow_  
_I'm hoping I'm wrong but I know I'm right_  
_I'll hunt again one night_

Deep down, Cliffjumper knew he should have felt something from killing the thing that looked so much like his beloved Arcee. He knew he should have felt disgusted with himself. Only he felt none of those things. Instead, his circuits sparked with… joy.

But besides feeling an unsettling happiness, there was another emotion that Cliffjumper didn’t want to put a name to. It was almost a feeling of familiarity, one of remembrance. For some reason, the minibot had the strangest feeling that he had killed in cold energon before.

But that can’t be right, the mech thought frantically. He had never killed a mech outside of a fight, even though he hated Decepticons with all his spark. The Autobot in him kept him from committing an act of murder, even on his worst enemies. But try as he might, the mech couldn’t shake the feeling that he had done something like this before, but no memories came to his processor.

As he searched within himself, seeking answers unknown, he finally found something. Only it was not the solution he had been hoping for. Instead, it was a feeling that shook him to his core, worse than anything he had ever felt in his long existence as a warrior. Cliffjumper, finally beginning to feel a chill of fear creeping over his circuits, knew with utter certainty that if he survived being held captive by the Decepticons, he would eventually kill again.

The mech collapsed to his knees, completely numb to his surroundings, even when the voice of his torturer boomed out of nowhere.

“Soundwave: on the verge of breaking Cliffjumper’s mind. Soundwave: highly suggests Autobot give Soundwave what he wants.”

The Autobot simply shuddered and didn’t respond to the Decepticon. It wasn’t clear if the mech had even understood his dark tormentor, let alone considered his request for information. At this point, Cliffjumper was too close to the edge to comprehend anymore.

Onboard the Nemesis, outside of the twisted dreamscape of Cliffjumper’s mind, Soundwave sighed internally to himself. He did so hate when his interrogation efforts proved fruitless, even if he enjoyed having his fun with prisoners afterward. Now he would have to find new Autobots to subdue, and that was not as easy as it seemed. The tall mech sighed again and ruminated quietly on what he would do.

 _Scream! Scream! Scream!_  
_The way you would if I ravaged your body_  
_Scream! Scream! Scream!_  
_The way you would if I ravaged your mind_

Soundwave had decided that enough was enough. He knew he would get no information out of Cliffjumper. That meant the Decepticon TiC was free to dispose of the Autobot however he pleased, and the dark mech had several twisted fantasies he had wanted to try out. However, Cliffjumper had at least earned a merciful death. But merciful to Soundwave still counted as torture to any other mech, even Megatron.

Turning his formidable processor to the task of shutting down Cliffjumper was a simple task for a mech like him, and he did so with an easy familiarity. But, rather than shutting the Autobot down all at once, Soundwave took his time and slowly offlined bits of his prisoner’s processor at a time, just so the mech would know what was coming.

One of the last sounds that the doomed Autobot heard was the muffled, mirthless laughter of his tormentor. Cliffjumper screamed aloud as the darkness closed in on all sides. But even as he faded, his consciousness still replayed that feeling of pleasure he had felt while murdering Arcee. With that feeling bouncing around in his processor, the mech did the only thing left for him to do. Cliffjumper screamed.

 

* * *

 

Far away from the dark, Decepticon filled halls, deep in the Autobot stronghold, Arcee twitched as she felt a tearing in her spark, felt the physical and emotional pain that was a sparkbond breaking. She screamed, unknowingly matching the cries of her dying partner in his final moments, and collapsed on her berth, aware of nothing but pain in that brief moment. As her spark made one final attempt to reach for the void where a sliver of Cliffjumper’s essence once resided, her pain reached new heights, and she screamed again; but her screams did nothing to alleviate the pain. So she screamed louder.

**Author's Note:**

> Umm.... Hey guys. So..... What'd you all think? I'm glad you made it this far, and not because I think my writing is good enough to unnerve readers to the point that they'd leave, but because I know I'm not the best author. So thanks for sticking it out! 
> 
> Now for those of you who are still here, don't hate me!! I don't really know where that last scene came from, it just hit me outta nowhere! It's been a while since I wrote this, but I'm reasonably sure that the story was originally going to end simply with Cliff's death. But come on, the new ending is SO much better, right? Heh, I think so, but I'm totally biased. XD
> 
> And again, I'm not sure why I love darker stories more, but that's always gonna be one of my top 2 preferences, the other being tooth-rotting, fluffy romance. Quite the contradiction, no? Well, I AM a hopeless romantic, so there's that.... And here's a brief anecdote for ya: I have several years of theatre experience (in high school, yes, but I plan on furthering that in college which begins in about... 9 days lol) and the last real show I got to do was a piece called "... And Others" which is REALLY difficult to find on the internet, but the script is AMAZING. Anyways, I got to play the character Randall, who is basically a complete and utter psychopath. Now I won't give away any plot details, just in case some of you guys are curious enough to try and check it out for yourself, but the guy has some pretty intense scenes. From the moment I was told to read for the character, I just.... Clicked with those lines and the character in general in a way that kinda freaked me the hell out, to be honest. But, I was good at it, and it was my favorite character that I've been given the opportunity to play. Needless to say, I won an award for that performance at the One-Act Festival competition where we performed, but it was a regional thing so it ain't that big of a deal, regardless of how proud I was/am of it. XD
> 
> Anyways, I love Soundwave, and I love reading fics where he's shown as being an immensely powerful telepath. That being said, I hadn't noticed a story with him using his powers quite like this before, but I could be wrong, so that made it fun to write. In the end, Soundwave was never truly after any information Cliff might've had. He was just being a sadistic mech, cruel just for the sake of being cruel. I think that even though I love seeing Sounders with a softer side, it's easy to forget that he IS a 'Con for a reason, although I've seen INCREDIBLE stories where he's more sophisticated than his fellows, and slower to use violence, so I'm not slamming other versions. This Soundwave.... Is not afraid to be cruel. In fact, as you probably saw, he revels in horrible acts such as these. And come on now, what mech other than Cliff would 'Wave have been able to pull violence from so easily? Well... Okay, so several others come to mind, But I went with Cliffjumper, so there! Yikes, this became a really crappy analysis of my own story, huh? Heh, sorry!
> 
> Pointless personal stories aside, feel free to let me know what you think! I LIVE for both praise and criticism, and I'll even accept flames, although I can't promise that I won't be a bit of a smartass in response. Either way, any kinda comment means that you cared enough to take the time to write it out, one way or another. Heck, even just leaving kudos will be fine with me! Once again, thanks for reading!


End file.
